Hard Hat Safety – How to Use a Hard Hat
The hard hat came into existence not more than 100 years ago during the Industrial Revolution. Thousands if not millions of construction workers slaved away in extremely unsafe locations all over the United States. The hundreds of deaths that occurred as a result of heavy object falls, electricity and chemical spills motivated some to come up with safety equipment for their workers. Thus in the early 1900s in San Francisco the first hard hat came into existence.
Today, hard hats are protection equipment for any individual working in an unstable environment. Generally speaking, this includes construction sites where large and heavy objects are susceptible to falling, supports under walls are still weak, and large building tools may be bumped and may fall to the ground. In all areas where there is a risk of the above (and other) events occurring there is always a hard hat safety sign. These zones then are restricted only for people who have a hard hat on. One natural question that comes to mind is: how do hard hats protect their wearers? After all, they seem to be regular hats made of thick plastic.
There are several features of a hard hat that serve to protect many areas of a person’s anatomy. The outer shell (the thick plastic part) is much harder than meets the eye. It is designed, both by material and shape, to resist and deflect any blows to the head. What many may not know is that there is a suspension system inside the hat that is designed to resist and absorb shock upon collision. Generally speaking even if the hat were to protect the head from a heavy falling object, the shock waves of the hit have a potential of causing a concussion. The suspension system essentially minimizes the shock waves. Many hard hats are also made with insulating material. This is important because many construction sites have open electrical wires. The hard hat serves to absorb electrical shock. In addition to these, hard hat safety takes into consideration spills and drips; especially those that may come from a hazardous substance such as a chemical. Hard hats protect neck, face and shoulders against such incidences. There are also modifications to hard hats that allows face shield, hoods, goggles and ear protection attachments. This essentially fully surrounds the head, neck and shoulder area and keeps any unwanted substance away.
All hard hats must go through special hard hat safety standards before they are put out on the market. These regulations comply with OHSA regulations which ask several questions of the hard hat design. First of all, can a worker wear weather protection under the hard hat? And when should variations on the regular hard hat be used in the work place? The OHSA is very detailed in their inspection of every manufacturing of a hard hat and their regulations change often. This keeps employers constantly involved and invested in the safety equipment of their workers and makes for a safer work place.
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